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Aussie cycling reformist leads the way

Guy Hand

The Australian leading the push for change in world cycling fully expects more of his countrymen to be implicated if and when the complete truth about the sport's dark past is revealed.

But entrepreneur Jaimie Fuller, who is attempting to have those in charge of world cycling overthrown, says punishment for those riders involved should be put aside in order to fully understand how and why widespread doping took root.

He says the only way to fix world cycling is to fully expose all involved in past doping, and rid the sport of those who oversaw the Lance Armstrong era.

"I would not be surprised to see Aussies, English, Americans, Germans, French, Italians, Spanish (involved in past doping)," Fuller, who is the chairman of Australian compression garment company Skins, told AAP.

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"It would be very hard to put your hand on your heart and say `I know that my country has not had people engaged in these activities'.

"I expect to find people from every country implicated. We all know that cycling has been submerged in a doping culture for many years.

"But it should be about getting to the truth. It should not be about any blame or punishment."

Fuller's company sponsored cycling, and is now suing world governing body UCI for damaging Skins' reputation through its mismanagement of the sport.

But the Australian has also become the central figure in a group called Change Cycling Now, which is agitating for change at the top.

It has brought together key reform advocates, and is backing three-time Tour De France winner Greg LeMond to take over the sport's governance short-term from current UCI bosses Pat McQuaid and Hein Verbruggen.

The duo have between them overseen the sport for more than 20 years, through various doping scandals culminating in the Armstrong era.

Fuller says they are at the very least incompetent in allowing a doping culture to thrive under their leadership.

He said he wasn't qualified to offer an opinion about whether Cycling Australia needed its own change at the top, but hoped the body would play a strong role in any reform process.

"I'd like to see Cycling Australia come forward and say `we're not scared of the truth'," he said.

"If there's crap that happened in the past, then let's understand what it is for the good of the sport, not cover it up and try to hide it."